Gaming Capital? POGOs & Transformation of Manila & PH

[drbubb]

BEL vs. PLC

BEL-etc: 0.49 /1.17 (41.8%) / Psei-6,703= 0.0175% at 5.5.23, was 0.019% (0.47/ 1.27=37.0%, 6,605)

PLC (0.49 x 31.22B sh= 15.3B) x 80%= 12.2B.  vs. BEL (1.17 x 11.83B sh= 13.8B) : 88% PLC-backed

PLC vs. BEL, 2019: BEL-etc: 0.49 /1.17 (41.8%) originated 1.04.19: 0.82 /2.41 (34.0%)

w/PLUS (ex. LR), last: 2.46

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POGO BAN - to trigger Real Estate crisis?

Philippines to shut 175 offshore gambling firms, deport 40,000 Chinese workers

MANILA: The Philippines will stop operations of 175 offshore gambling firms and deport about 40,000 Chinese workers, a justice ministry official said on Monday (Sep 26), part of a crackdown on the notoriously opaque online gaming industry.

The sector emerged in the Philippines in 2016 and grew exponentially, as operators capitalised on the country's liberal gaming laws to target customers in China, where gambling is banned.

At their peak, Philippine offshore gambling operators, or POGOs, employed more than 300,000 Chinese workers, but the pandemic and higher taxes have forced many to operate elsewhere.

> more: https://www.channelnewsasia.com/asia/philippines-shut-175-offshore-gambling-firms-deport-40000-chinese-workers-2966496 x

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‘POGO ban to trigger real estate crisis’

Iris Gonzales - The Philippine Star  /  Sept. 26, 2022

Economic losses seen at P200 billion per year

MANILA, Philippines — A total ban on Philippine offshore gaming operations (POGOs) may trigger another crisis in the real estate industry and spill over to the economy as it could translate to annual losses of nearly P200 billion, an industry player has warned.

The complete ban on POGOs is also expected to translate to an additional office space vacancy of 1.05 million square meters – the space currently occupied by the remaining POGOs, according to real estate consultant David Leechiu, CEO of Leechiu Property Consultants (LPC).

This, in turn, could swell losses from the POGO exodus to roughly P190 billion, according to LPC estimates.

The estimated annual losses are broken down as follows: P54.3 billion to P57.1 billion in income tax from foreign FTEs (full-time equivalent); P52.5 billion in fit-out cost or the cost of providing furniture, fixtures and technology; P28.6 billion in housing rent across 2.4 million sqm of residential space; P18.9 billion in office rent; P11.4 billion expenditure on commissary meals; P9.5 billion in electricity cost; P5.8 billion in taxes; P5.25 billion in revenue for the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. and P952 million in daily spending.

The empty offices could also lead to closures of medium-sized and smaller property players and push rental rates back to their levels as far back as two decades ago, Leechiu warned.

In a recent briefing, Leechiu said an outright and blanket ban on POGOs would lead to an oversupply in the sector and could cut rental rates by more than half, which would be detrimental to property players.

The Bay Area, for instance, used to fetch P1,500 to P2,000 per sqm from POGOs and about P750 to P900 per sqm from other tenants. But with rising vacancy, Bay Area rents are now down to P600 to P500 per sqm, industry data showed.

Other business districts such as Makati and Ortigas could potentially face the same situation and set prices back to pre-POGO years.

Higher vacancy and low rental rates may result in a liquidity crunch for the sector and thus trigger another crisis for the property industry, which in recent decades was already brought to its knees by past global meltdowns such as the Asian financial crisis of 1997 and the US mortgage crisis of 2007.

The POGO sector has so far vacated 630,000 sqm of office space, which led to contractions in the industry in the last three years.

> more:  https://www.philstar.com/business/2022/09/26/2212187/pogo-ban-trigger-real-estate-crisis

[drbubb]

POGOs leaving?   Could be bad news for Office rents:            

Compare: 1.05M now, versus 1.68M before, means only 37.5% of potential losses in Office tenancies has  happened so far/

" Leechiu said that if an additional 1.05 million in office space would be vacated, it would translate to wider losses, and put additional pressure on rental rates.
Over the past three years, POGOs have vacated 630,000 sqm in office space."           

> more: https://www.philstar.com/business/2022/09/26/2212187/pogo-ban-trigger-real-estate-crisis

Some Columnists want ALL POGOs GONE!

GOODBYE POGOS

JOBS???   "No official receipts were ever given. When ordering in their largest dining compound in our area, I would be handed a piece of paper on which Chinese characters were written. If there was no OR, no taxes were paid.

As for job generation, the restaurants and grocery stores did employ Filipino staff, mainly to communicate with the locals. But the job requirement for POGO employment in its core business, obviously, is fluency in Mandarin. So Filipinos handled only support jobs such as clerical work, maintenance and janitorial services...             

There was one local sector that reaped benefits from the influx of non-resident aliens: real estate. Pre-pandemic, there were numerous reports of private homes being rented out at up to 10 times the prevailing rates, with six months’ advance payment.  The demand for POGO workers’ accommodations was so high that top property developers quickly jumped in, buying up long-idle land around known POGO hubs and rapidly constructing condominium-type buildings."

EJECT them All?? 

"President Marcos has been saying that the Philippines is open for business. The Duterte administration kept saying the same thing for six years.
What we got were the POGOs, with measly returns for national coffers.
The new administration should reject suggestions to retain what’s left of the POGOs, and simply bid everyone good riddance."

> more: https://www.philstar.com/opinion/2022/09/30/2213276/goodbye-pogos

The POGOs came.   To start businesses with their own rules.  Lower taxes,  When the PHL rules got enforced, many left.  EJECTING THEM ALL, so quickly with have positive and Negative consequences.  This needs some careful thinking.  Not just an emotional response

[drbubb]

Gambling stocks

BEL vs. PLC, LR (now: PLUS)  ... since 2020:

On September 06, 2022, Leisure & Resorts World Corporation changed its name to DigiPlus Corporation.

BEL / Belle Corp ... All: 10yr: 5yr: 2yr: Ytd: 10d./ Last: 1.18 +0.02 , PER: 7.95x

PLC / Premier Leisure Corp ... All: 10yr: 5yr: 2yr: Ytd: 10d./ Last: 0.45 +0.005 , PER: 9.89x / Yield: 11.2%

PLUS / DigiPlus, LR / Leisure & Resorts World ... All: 10yr: 5yr: 2yr: Ytd: 10d./ Last: 2.26 - 0.58 , PER: N/A

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[drbubb]

BELLE Corp is getting a Bid... along with the PSEI

BEL / Belle Corp. etc. 2022: YTD: 10d: 1.23 +0.02 / Psei: 6,781 = 0.018%

[drbubb]

PEAKED.  And fell to support (at 1.25), as the ex-Dividend Day was reached

BEL / Belle Corp.  Sep.'19: 10d/ P1.28 -0.04. ( Range: 1.09 to 1.49 : 0.40 x.618= -0.247=1.245 support?)

update : 0.47 /1.27 (37.0%) / Psei-6,605= 0.019%

3-cos: BEL, PLC, PLUS ... update: 1.28, 0.465, 2.58

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Belle Corp. 2022 net income up 130%, nears pre-pandemic...

During its meeting held on February 28, 2023, Belle Corporation's (Belle) Board of Directors approved the declaration of a regular cash dividend of Six Centavos (Php0.06) per share for a total dividend payment to its common shareholders of approximately Php600 Million payable on March 30, 2023 to shareholders of record as of March 15, 2023. In 2022, the Company more than doubled its consolidated net income of Php1,710 million, which is 130% higher than the Php745 million registered in 2021. Moreover, consolidated revenues last year also grew by 58% to Php5,419 million from Php3,420 million in 2021. Jackson Ongsip, Belle President and Chief Executive Officer, said: "We built on the opportunities presented given the improving COVID- 19 situation in the Philippines and around the world and the full economic reopening to deliver stellar results and continue our shared recovery."

Premium Leisure achieves solid 2022 results : P0.05 x XXM shs (held by BEL) =

Premium Leisure Corp. (PLC) realized consolidated revenues of Php2.080 billion for the year ended 2022, up by 20% from the previous year's Php1.727 billion. As a result, PLC's consolidated net income of Php1.256 billion was 12% higher than 2021's Php1.123 billion. Driven mainly by further re-opening and revitalized economic activities in 2022, the gaming revenue share of its wholly owned subsidiary PremiumLeisure & Amusement, Inc. increased by 20% to Php1.561 billion from Php1.300 billion in 2021. Pacific Online Systems Corporation, which is 50.1%-owned by PLC, also delivered strong 2022 results, posting a 22% uptick in revenues amounting to Php519 Million from Php426 million in 2021. The solid 2022 results enabled PLC to declare a regular dividend of Php0.05024 per share on February 28, 2023, payable on March 28, 2023 to shareholders of record as of March 15, 2023.

[drbubb]

BEL vs. PLC

BEL-etc: 0.49 /1.17 (41.8%) / Psei-6,703= 0.0175% at 5.5.23, was 0.019% (0.47/ 1.27=37.0%, 6,605)

PLC (0.49 x 31.22B sh= 15.3B) x 80%= 12.2B.  vs. BEL (1.17 x 11.83B sh= 13.8B) : 88% PLC-backed

PLC vs. BEL, 2019: BEL-etc: 0.49 /1.17 (41.8%) originated 1.04.19: 0.82 /2.41 (34.0%)

w/PLUS (ex. LR), last: 2.46

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[drbubb]

Fierce rise in PLC (& PLUS), leaves BEL behind

PLC vs. BEL... since 2020: Oct.22: 10d/. PLC: 0.56, BEL: 1.16

we saw it coming... Oct.22:

PLUS also had a surge ... to: new High of 3.69: FLIP /. Yr.Range: 1.28 to 3.69

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